Councillor Graham Hutchison (Edinburgh Council); Councillor Amanda Hawick (Shetland Islands Council); and Councillor Ruairie Kelly (Glasgow City Council) (for lateness).

There were no declarations of interest intimated prior to the commencement of the meeting.


Prior to commencement of the meeting the Convener intimated that Highland Council had intimated that Councillor Jimmy Gray would now be Highland Council’s representative on Scotland Excel. The Convener thanked Councillor MacKinnon for his contribution to the work of and support given to Scotland Excel as a member of both the Executive Sub-committee and Joint Committee.

There was submitted the Minute of the meeting of the Executive Sub-committee held on 19 February 2021.

DECIDED: That the Minute be approved.

There was submitted a revenue budget monitoring report by the Treasurer and the Chief Executive of Scotland Excel for the period 1 April 2020 to 5 February 2021.  

The report intimated that at the end of period 11, Scotland Excel was projecting a small surplus by year-end in its core activities and a £72,000 overspend by year-end within projects, which would result in a drawdown from project reserves. Further detail was provided in section 3 of the report.

Appendix 1 to the report provided an analysis of the actual spend to date along with projected net expenditure for 2020/21 and included a summary of movement in the revenue reserve. Appendix 2 to the report provided an analysis of the actual spend to date along with projected net expenditure for 2020/21 and included a summary of movement in the project reserves.

DECIDED: That the report and the planned drawdown from committed project reserves be noted.

There was submitted a report by the Chief Executive of Scotland Excel relative to the award of a framework agreement for the booking of staff in current employment with local authorities for temporary vacancies which would operate for a period of four years, commencing on 15 April 2021 and not 1 April 2021 as stated in the report.

The report intimated that SEEMiS Group LLP, the central body established by Scottish local authorities with a remit to develop and service a national education management information system for all of Scotland’s schools, would retire the module that allowed local authorities to record the booking of supply teachers for temporary vacancies in July 2021. Local authorities were now seeking a solution to replace this module with increased scope to allow for the booking of a variety of staff roles, however, the prime booking role was for supply teachers.

The framework would be available to all councils and Appendix 1 to the report detailed the participation, spend and savings summary of those councils participating in the framework together with Tayside Contracts who had confirmed their intention to participate. It was noted that South Lanarkshire and East Renfrewshire Councils had intimated that they did not intend utilising the framework as they had other in-house solutions.  

The diverse requirements of each council made forecasting the expenditure unfeasible to produce on an individual council by council basis. The solutions offered were defined as Software As A Service (SAAS) and costs were therefore dependent on the number of users of the solution. The report intimated that the requirements for West Dunbartonshire Council had been used for the purposes of evaluation and the estimation of the potential value of the framework. The estimated value opportunity was £15,000 per annum with setup costs between £5,000 and £10,000 and the contract opportunity was therefore advertised with a value of £1 million over the four-year term.

The report summarised the outcome of the procurement process for this framework.

Tender responses had been received from six suppliers and Appendix 2 to the report provided a summary of the offers received and their SME status. It was noted that one tenderer had failed to submit a commercial offer and the offer was therefore non-compliant.

Based on the criteria and scoring methodology set out in the tender document, a full evaluation of the offers had been carried out and Appendix 3 to the report detailed the scoring achieved by each bidder.

Based on the evaluation undertaken, and in line with the criteria and weightings set out in the report, it was recommended that a multi-supplier framework arrangement be awarded to five suppliers as outlined in Appendix 3 to the report. 

Appendix4 to the report detailed the approach taken by suppliers in relation to fair work practices and their position on the payment of the Real Living Wage; and Appendix 5 to the report detailed the contract management classifications. 

DECIDED: That the award of the multi-supplier framework for the booking of public sector employees (supply teacher booking), as detailed in Appendix 3 to the report, be approved.

There was submitted a report by the Chief Executive of Scotland Excel advising that Ruchazie Housing Association Limited had submitted an application to become an associate member of Scotland Excel.

The report provided details of the organisation and the legislative position in relation to the application.

DECIDED: That the application by Ruchazie Housing Association Limited to become an associate member of Scotland Excel, with an annual membership fee of £500, be approved subject to completion and signing of the agreement documentation.

There was submitted a report by the Chief Executive of Scotland Excel advising that the University of Glasgow had submitted an application to become an associate member of Scotland Excel.

The report provided details of the organisation and the legislative position in relation to the application.

DECIDED: That the application by the University of Glasgow to become an associate member of Scotland Excel, with no annual membership fee, be approved subject to completion and signing of the agreement documentation.

There was submitted a report by the Chief Executive of Scotland Excel providing an update on contracts within the care portfolio and on the potential impact of the recommendations from the Independent Review of Adult Social Care.

In relation to children’s services, the report provided updates on the Fostering and Continuing Care framework; the Secure Care framework; and the Children’s Residential Care and Education including Short Breaks framework and in relation to adult social care, updates were provided in relation to the Care and Support Flexible framework and the National Care Home contract, in relation to which it was noted that Scotland Excel proposed to make an offer to the sector based on the agreed cost model and benchmarks for uplift, which had been endorsed by CoSLA Leaders, and which included a living wage uplift for care workers. 

It was noted that the report on the Independent Review of Adult Social Care, chaired by Derek Feeley, had been published on 3 February 2021. Whilst the report found social care provision in Scotland to be built on strong foundations and acknowledged examples of excellent practice, it concluded that the current system of social care was one of unrealised potential. The report was critical of the current structure, siting a lack of process in health and social care integration; and the current procurement and commissioning practices, calling for an ethical approach to commissioning with clear recommendations to increase collaboration and to reduce competition between providers. 

Amongst the report’s 53 recommendations was the creation of a National Care Service; a new minister for social care; and reformed Integrated Joint Boards and included significant change to the role of local authorities, to one of delivery partner, as legal responsibility for social care shifted to the new Integrated Joint Boards. The potential impact on both local authorities and Scotland Excel was significant should the recommendations be accepted in full. Scotland Excel would explore expectations in relation to immediate action on ethical commissioning with the Scottish Government as well as the longer-term implications for Scotland Excel’s role should responsibility for social care no longer sit within local authorities. It was noted that Scotland Excel was well placed to support the implementation of recommendations in relation to procurement and commissioning practice.

DECIDED: 

(a) That the contract updates be noted;

(b) That the proposed approach to concluding the NCHC fee negotiations and the plans to work with key stakeholders to consider the potential impact of the recommendations on Scotland Excel’s role in social care be supported; and

(c) That Scotland Excel’s plans to explore the potential to undertake an active role in implementing recommendations relating to commissioning and procurement be supported.

The Sub-committee resolved that the press and public be excluded from the meeting during consideration of the following item of business as it was likely, in view of the nature of the business to be transacted, that if members of the press and public were present, there could be disclosure to them of exempt information as defined in paragraph 1 of Part I of Schedule 7A of the Local Government (Scotland) Act 1973.

There was submitted an exempt report by the Chief Executive of Scotland Excel providing an overview of the proposed Scotland Excel workforce plan and the result of the recent voluntary redundancy/voluntary early retirement process.

DECIDED:

(a) That the principles of the proposed workforce plan be noted and supported; and

(b) That the outcome of the recent voluntary redundancy/voluntary early retirement exercise be noted.

DECIDED: That it be noted that the next meeting of the Executive Sub-committee would be held at 9.30 am on 23 April 2021.